Bengaluru: Hours before state BJP chief, B S Yeddyurappa was invited by the governor to take oath as Chief Minister, state JD(S) chief, H.D. Kumaraswamy and Congress leaders hurriedly submitted a list of 117 MLAs to Governor Vajubhai Vala and sought an opportunity to prove their majority on the floor of the House.
Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Mr Kumaraswamy and KPCC president, Dr G Parameshwar said the Governor was given a copy of the Supreme Court's three member bench ruling in the Goa case that the single largest party did not have to be invited to form the government if it did not have a clear majority.
"We have requested the Governor to act according to the Supreme Court ruling,'' they said. Earlier in the day, Mr Kumaraswamy, who was unanimously elected as the Janata Dal(S)'s Legislature Party leader, targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the horse- trading in Karnataka. Speaking to reporters, he claimed his party and Congress legislators were being offered Rs 100 crore and other benefits to switch loyalties to the BJP.
"Where is this Rs 100 crore coming from? When Mr Modi talks about eradicating black money from the country, is his party giving this money in black or white? Is it the same money recovered from abroad, that Modi promised to put into every bank account in the country?'' he demanded, adding "What is the I-T department doing when so much money is beig moved around?" Accusing the BJP of being in a hurry to capture power in Karnataka, Mr Kumaraswamy warned that if it continued its "Operation Kamala" in Karnataka, it would boomerang on it this time.
"There are at least 10 to 15 BJP legislators, who are my well wishers and ready to quit the BJP. If they try anything, we will also retaliate. After all, we are not sanyasis," he said.
Meanwhile, at the legislature party meeting Mr Kumaraswamy reportedly claimed that he was forced to support the BJP to form a coalition government in the past as the Congress was at the time trying to destroy the party built by his father. "But the move was a blot on my father's image, as he was always against the BJP's ideology. As I was responsible for tarnishing his image, I have to clean it up now,'' he added. When some legislators voiced their apprehension over joining hands with the Congress, Mr Kumaraswamy said Mr Deve Gowda would look into the issue.
